Insurance incentive program for promoting the purchase or lease of an automobile

ABSTRACT

Included in the terms of a purchase or lease agreement, particularly pertaining to automobiles, a party having a business relationship with the seller or lessor, or the seller or lessor itself, agrees to provide a policy, including at least collision and/or comprehensive coverage, to a qualified buyer. The insurance coverage protects against losses related to the item being purchased or leased for a predetermined period of time. To be qualified, the purchaser or lessor must reside in a particular geographic region and purchase or lease, for example, a particular make and model of automobile. No further characteristics of the purchaser or lessor axe considered in obtaining the insurance policy. The sale or lease of the item and provision of the insurance policy may fee completed over a computer network, such as the Internet.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C, § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/706,502 (whichresulted in U.S. Pat. No. 7,801,750) which in turn is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/645,020 which was abandoned in Mar.2011.

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/645,794 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7349,860) entitled “Insurance IncentiveProgram Having a Term of Years for Promoting the Purchase or Lease of anAutomobile” filed on Aug. 24, 2000, and is further related to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/645,795 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,831,466)entitled “Insurance Incentive Program for Promoting the Purchase OrRelease of an Automobile After an Expiration of a Lease” filed on Aug.24, 2000, and is further related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/776,512, entitled “Insurance Incentive Program Having A TermOf Years For Promoting The Purchase Or Lease Of An Automobile” filed onJul. 11, 2007, and is further related to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/776,507, (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,556) entitled “InsuranceIncentive Program Tor Promoting the Purchase or Release of an AutomobileAfter An Expiration of a Lease”, filed on Jul. 11,2007, and is furtherrelated to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/645,794 (now U.S. Pat.No. 7,349,860) entitled “Insurance Incentive Program Having a Term ofYears for Promoting the Purchase or Lease of an Automobile”, filed onAug. 24, 2000, and is further related to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/049,134, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,321,245) entitled “insuranceIncentive Program For Promoting the Purchase or Release of an AutomobileAfter An Expiration of a Lease”, filed on Mar. 16, 2011 the entirety ofeach being incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to sales incentive programs,and more particularly to sales incentive programs in which insurance isprovided to the buyer for an item subject to sale or lease, such as anautomobile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is common for manufacturers or retailers to provide incentives topotential purchasers or lessees in order to increase the sale or leaseof an item. Particularly with respect to the sale or lease ofautomobiles, manufacturers have offered lowered interest rates onfinancing, rebates and extended warranties in an attempt to increasesale or lease of one or more classes of automobile.

One typical problem faced by purchasers or lessees of automobiles, inparticular, is obtaining insurance for the automobile at the time ofsale or lease. The buyer must typically complete many forms to obtainthe insurance. Such a process may deter the buyer from completing thesale or lease. Furthermore, the characteristics of the purchaser, suchas the age, sex, marital status, area of residence, vehicle usage, thenumber of drivers living with the buyer and the make and model of thecar purchased are all considered by an insurance provider to determine arate for an insurance premium tor the insurance policy sought. The costof the insurance policy may be prohibitive, thereby impacting sale orlease of that class of automobile.

In order to address the problems in obtaining insurance, some automobileretailers have offered to provide basic insurance coverage with the saleor lease of the automobile. However, the premium for the buyer is stillevaluated using all of the characteristics identified above, which mayresult in insurance premiums which are prohibitive for the partyreceiving the policy. Furthermore, under such programs, the buyer muststill complete many forms in order to receive the insurance and must paya percentage of the premium in advance in order to complete the sale ortease of the vehicle in accordance with certain state laws.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application is directed to particular features of a systemand method of providing an incentive to purchase or lease an automobileby providing insurance as a no-cost, or discounted cost “sticker item”on the vehicle at the time of sale or lease.

In particular, one aspect of the invention includes a method forproviding an incentive relating to a sale or lease of an item. In thisembodiment a manufacturer determines a class of items for whichinsurance is to be provided. The manufacturer further determines ageographic region in which a buyer of one of the class of items mustreside to receive the insurance. At the time of a sale or lease of oneof the class of items, the manufacturer pays an insurance premium for aninsurance policy on behalf of the buyer.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, a method for providingin incentive relating to a sale or lease of an item includes a retailerreceiving an indication of a class of items for which insurance is to beprovided to a buyer residing in a geographic region without cost to thebuyer. The retailer completes a sale or lease of one of the class ofitems to a particular buyer residing in the geographic region andconfirms that the buyer resides in the geographic region. The retailerthen provides a sales agreement relating to the sale or lease of theitem to the buyer. The sales agreement includes a confirmation of aprovision of an insurance policy covering the item.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, a method forproviding an insurance policy relating to a sale or lease of an itembegins when an insurance affiliate receives an indication of an itemsold to a buyer for which insurance, is provided by a third party. Theaffiliate charges a premium for the insurance policy to the third party,the premium based on a class of the item and a geographic region of thebuyer without consideration of further qualifications of the buyer.

According to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a method fordetermining an insurance premium to be charged to a party providinginsurance to a buyer of an item begins when an affiliate receives from amanufacturer an indication of a class of items for which insurance is tobe provided to a buyer of one of the class of items. The affiliatefurther receives from the manufacturer an indication of a geographicregion in which a buyer must reside to receive the insurance. Based onthis data, the affiliate calculates a premium to be charged for eachinsurance policy issued to purchasers or lessees in the geographic area,the premium being based on the class of items and the geographic region,without consideration of further characteristics of the buyer.

According to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, a method ofreceiving an insurance policy with a sale or lease of an item beginswhen a buyer completes a sale or lease agreement for either a purchaseor a lease of an item. The buyer then receives a paid insurance policyfor the item, the insurance policy being provided based on a class ofthe item and the geographic location in which the buyer resides.

According to further embodiments of the present invention, the itembeing purchased or leased may be an automobile of a particular make andmodel. The insurance policy may cover comprehensive, collision and othertypes of losses relating to the item and may remain in effect even afterthe buyer moves from the geographic region. Also, the insuranceaffiliate may charge the manufacturer a fiat rate for each policy issuedaccording to the incentive program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the instant invention will be more readilyappreciated upon review of the detailed description of the preferredembodiments included below when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary relationship betweenmanufacturers, retailers, purchasers, insurers, and underwriters of theprior art;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary relationship betweenmanufacturers, retailers, purchasers, insurers and underwritersaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, performed by amanufacturer of an item, to provide a sales incentive for the purchaseor lease of the item;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplar process, performed by a retailerof an item, to provide a sales incentive for the purchase or lease ofthe item;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, performed by aninsurance affiliate, to provide an insurance policy corresponding to asales incentive for the purchase or lease of an item sold by amanufacturer or retailer;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an exemplary process, performed by a buyer ofan items to receive an insurance policy with the purchase or lease ofthe item;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram representing an exemplary computer network forcompleting the provision of an insurance policy for an item sold to abuyer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to various embodiments of the present invention, an improvedincentive program is introduced for promoting the sale or lease of anitem. As used herein, the terms “sale,” “sell,” “selling,” “sold,” “buy”and “buying” refer to any of a purchase of an item, a purchase of anitem with financing or a lease of an item. The item may be a productproduced by a manufacturer, or any product or service offered for saleor lease by a retailer. Whether the item is purchased or leased, thepurchaser or lessee shall be uniformly referred to herein as a “buyer”or “customer.”

In preferred embodiments, the item that is sold is an automobile of aparticular make and model. The automobile may be new or used as thoseterms are understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

The advantages of the systems and methods of the present invention overprior programs are exemplified in FIG. 1. In typical sale or lease of anautomobile, a buyer 100 pays a purchase price to a manufacturer 102 fora particular make and model of an automobile offered for sale or lease.The transaction may take place through an intermediary, such as anautomobile dealer or an operator of a web site on the Internet (notshown). In consideration of most states' requirements that automobileshave at least minimum insurance coverage, before delivery of theautomobile to the buyer can be completed, the buyer 100 must secure aninsurance policy for the automobile. This can be accomplished through anautomobile dealership working in conjunction with a third party insurer104, or the buyer may separately obtain insurance coverage from aninsurer 104, and provide confirmation thereof, prior to receiving theautomobile.

In either event, the insurer 104 will determine an individual riskrating for the buyer 100 based on certain characteristics of the buyer100. These characteristics typically include all of the followingfactors: the age of the buyer 100, the sex of the buyer 100, thecontemplated usage of the vehicle (business, personal, miles to bedriven per day, etc.), the rating territory (broken down by city, stateand/or zip code, or any portion thereof) in which the vehicle will begaraged, known risk factors associated with each rating territory (i.e.rate of theft or accident within each rating territory), the drivinghistory of the buyer 100 (i.e. the number of traffic violations and/oraccidents in a preceding period of time), the number of persons of legaldriving age residing with the buyer 100, and statistics relating to themodel of automobile to be purchased (i.e. rate of theft and accidentsinvolving the model).

The buyer 100 will also identify the types of insurance coverage desiredfor the automobile. Typically, insurers offer six categories ofcoverage, some of which are mandatory by various state governments.These include: (1) bodily injury liability, for injuries the insuredcauses to another party; (2) personal injury protection (i.e. no-faultcoverage), for medical expenses mid lost wages relating to the treatmentof injuries to the driver and passengers of the insured's automobile;(3) property damage liability, for damage caused by the insured toanother's property; (4) collision coverage, for damage to the insured'scar resulting from a collision with another car or object; (5)comprehensive coverage, for damage to the insured's car that doesn'tinvolve a collision (i.e., fire, theft, falling objects, and acts ofGod); and (6) uninsured motorist coverage, for treatment of an insured'sinjuries as a result of a collision with an uninsured driver.

Typically, insurance premiums may be discounted based, on certaindiscount factors, such a clean driving and accident record, multipleautomobile coverage, automobile coverage in conjunction with other typesof insurance (such as homeowners insurance), and safety factors includedor added to an automobile, such as air bags, anti-theft devices, use ofseat belts and the like.

From the risk factors, the selected insurance coverage and the discountfactors, as well as costs and expenses borne by the insurance carrier,an individual premium is calculated by the insurer 104.

The lengthy process of obtaining insurance and the cost of the insuranceitself, may be prohibitive to the buyer 100, and may influence thebuyer's 104 decision to purchase an automobile. Furthermore, a retailer,such as an automobile dealer, may require an insurance deposit of 10-20%of the premium at the time of sale or lease to secure an insurancepolicy for a predetermined period of time, for policies secured with theaid of the retailer. This increases costs to the buyer 100, and again,may impact the decision to purchase the automobile.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-7, wherein similar components of the presentinvention are referenced in like manner, preferred embodiments of aninsurance incentive program for promoting the purchase or lease of anitem, such as an automobile, are disclosed.

FIG. 2 schematically depicts the transactions that take place betweenbuyer 100, manufacturer 102 and insurance agent 104 according to certainembodiments for the present invention. In general, it is contemplatedthat a manufacturer 102, or dealers/retailers having a businessrelationship with the manufacturer, will select a product and promotesale or lease thereof through offering a sales incentive as describedherein. In particular, it is contemplated that a manufacturer ofautomobiles may, based on projected or current sale or lease figures,select one or more makes and models of automobile that are subject tothe sales incentive. In order to increase sale or lease of the selectedmakes and models, the manufacturer 102 may offer a program whereby aqualified buyer would receive a discounted or fully-paid insurancepolicy with the sale or lease of the automobile. This incentive may beprovided in addition to or in place of offering standard salesincentives such as rebates, lowered financing interest rates andextended warranties.

Accordingly, a transaction according to this sales incentive willresemble that depicted in FIG. 2. The buyer 100 pays a purchase price(or alternatively enters into a financing or lease agreement) to buy aselected automobile from the manufacturer 102, or a retailer, such as anautomobile dealership having a business relationship with themanufacturer. The manufacturer or retailer notifies a selected insurer104 of the sale or lease and secures an insurance policy on behalf ofthe buyer. The insurer 104 may be an affiliate of the manufacturer, asdescribed further below. Furthermore, the insurance policy may beprovided on the basis of the make and model of the automobile beingpurchased and the geographic area where the buyer resides, withoutconsideration of further characteristics of the driver, also asdescribed further below. Upon delivery of the automobile to the buyer100, the buyer 100 receives fully paid insurance coverage from theinsurer 104.

Turning now to FIG. 3, therein is depicted an exemplary process 300 foroffering a sales incentive and completing a sale or lease of an itemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. The process 300begins when a manufacturer selects one or more makes and models ofautomobile and at least one geographic region in which to offer a salesincentive (step 302).

The selection of the make and model of automobile may be made based uponseveral factors. Since maintaining a surplus inventory is costly to bothmanufacturers and retailers, it is contemplated that those makes andmodels of automobile for which sales are under-performing may beselected for the sales incentive. Alternatively, or in addition, it iscontemplated that those makes and models for which a new model year isapproaching may be a candidate for the sales incentive program. Otherfactors in making the selection may be based on competition in themarketplace, i.e. trying to gain an advantage on a competing make andmodel of car from another manufacturer. Additional factors in making theselection of an automobile may be used.

The selection of a geographic region may also be made based on severalbusiness factors. One such factor is lower sales of the make and modelin a particular geographic region, such as a state, a county, a city,town or village, a zip code, or any portion thereof. Another factor maybe based on demographic and other statistics relating to a particulargeographic region. For example, a particular geographic region may bedisqualified from the program based on the rate of car theft, accidentsor vandalism in the area. Other factors may also be included in theselection of geographic areas in which the sales incentive is to beoffered.

Continuing with process 300, the manufacturer 102 next negotiates theterms of insurance to be provided according to the sales incentive withthe insurer 104 (step 304). In a preferred embodiment, the insurer 104is an affiliated company related to the manufacturer 102. However, theinsurer 104 may be an insurance carrier or agent. It is preferable thatthe types of insurance coverage, such as personal and bodily injury,liability, property damage, comprehensive, collision and uninsuredmotorist coverage all be provided to a buyer under the program. However,any useful subset of these coverages may be agreed upon. It is alsopreferable that the manufacturer be charged a flat rate for each policyinitiated under the sales incentive so that costs of the incentive tothe manufacturer may be more easily predicted and so that buyers may bemore readily qualified without regard to individual characteristics. Thedetermination of the flat rate for the insurance premium is discussed inmore detail below with respect to FIG. 5.

Next, at step 306, the manufacturer 102 may notify retailers of theselected make and model in the selected geographic area(s) which qualifyfor the sales incentive program. The manufacturer 102 may furtherinitiate television, radio and/or print advertising notifying the publicas to the sales incentive.

After the sales incentive has been initiated, the manufacturer may nextreceive an indication of a sale or lease of a qualified automobile to aqualified buyer (step 308). The manufacturer may then pay an insurancepremium on behalf of the buyer according to the sale incentive program(step 310). The insurance preferably takes place at the time of sale orlease of the automobile or the time of delivery of the automobile to thebuyer (step 312). The insurance policy preferably covers all drivers ofthe vehicle for a period of one year from the date of sale, lease ordelivery, although any term of insurance may be provided. The process300 then ends.

Turning now to FIG. 4, therein is depicted a process 400 by which aretailer may complete a sale or lease of a qualified make and model ofautomobile to a qualified buyer. The process 400 begins when theretailer receives an indication of qualified makes and models andqualified geographic regions according to the sales incentive program,as determined by the manufacturer 102 (step 402). The retailer may beprovided with all the forms, manuals and guidelines required tosuccessfully complete a sale or lease according to the program.

Next, the retailer may enter into a sale or lease transaction with aqualified buyer for a qualified automobile (step 404). The transactionmay be embodied in one or more forms comprising a sales agreement forthe lease or purchase of a vehicle in which the terms of the sale orlease are incorporated. During the sale or lease, the retailer mayconfirm that the buyer lives in the required geographic region byreviewing fee buyer's current drivers license or other proof of address,such as a credit report (step 406). The retailer then provides theconfirmation to the manufacturer and confirms the provision of adiscounted or fully-paid insurance policy to the buyer (step 408), afterwhich process 400 ends.

Referring now to FIG. 5, therein is depicted an exemplary process 500performed by an insurer 104 for determining and providing an insurancepolicy according to the sales incentive program described above. Asstated above, it is preferred, though not required, that the insurer 104providing insurance coverage according to the sales incentive program bean affiliate of the manufacturer 102. This relationship has theadvantage of providing an amicable business relationship whilesatisfying many state requirements that prohibit a licensed entity fromdispensing free insurance, since the premium will be paid to the insurer104 by the manufacturer.

The process 500 begins when the insurer 104 receives an indication ofone or more makes and models of automobile and one or more geographicareas in which the manufacturer 102 will provide the above-describedsales incentive (step 502). Based on this information, the insurer 104preferably calculates a Oat rate for each insurance policy to be issuedin each geographic region (step 504).

The provision of a flat-rate insurance policy represents a divergencefrom standard insurance practices, in which premiums are typicallycalculated based on individual characteristics of the Buyer, asdescribed above. However, it is contemplated that use of regionaldemographic, statistical and actuarial information may be used tocalculate a flat rate premium without consideration of furtherindividual statistics such as age, sex, marital status, vehicle usageand driver history. For example, the insurer 104 may rely on averagestatistics for a geographical region relating to occurrences ofautomobile accidents, theft, vandalism and other losses for eachidentified make an model of automobile, or similar automobiles in theregion in order to calculate a flat-rate premium.

The insurer 104 may further use average premium information as compiledby the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to determine anacceptable flat-rate premium. The insurer 104 may further account forthe number of projected insurance policies that may be issued under theprogram, the type of coverages to be initiated under the policy, thedemographics of expected buyers of the make and model of automobilessubject to the program, expected or actual costs and expenses relatingto the program and the term of the policy to calculate the premium.Other known actuarial and statistical information and techniques mayreadily be employed.

Next, after the premium rates have been successfully negotiated and theprogram has been implemented, the insurer 104 may receive an indicationof a qualified sale or lease under the program (step 508). The insurer104 may then provide an insurance policy to the buyer at the time ofsale, lease or delivery of the vehicle (step 510), after which, theinsurer 104 receives a payment of the premium from, for example, themanufacturer 102 or the retailer on behalf of the buyer (step 512). Theprocess 500 then ends.

Turning now to FIG. 6, therein is depicted a process 600 by which aqualified buyer 100 receives an insurance policy with a sale or lease ofa qualified automobile according to the sales incentive programdescribed above. The process 600 begins at step 602 where the buyerenters into a sale or lease with a retailer selling the qualifiedautomobile. It is further contemplated that the sale or lease may bemade by the manufacturer 102 directly. The retailer determines theeligibility of the buyer 100 to receive insurance under the salesincentive program based on the type of automobile sold and thegeographic region in which the buyer resides (step 604) and notifies themanufacturer 102 of the qualified sale or lease (step 606). Themanufacturer 102 then provides a payment of at least a portion of theinsurance premium to the insurer 104 on behalf of the buyer 100 (step608), thereby giving the buyer a discounted, or fully-paid insurancepolicy covering the automobile against certain types of losses. Theprocess 600 then ends.

Turning to FIG. 7, it is contemplated that all the transactionsdescribed above may be implemented on a computer network 700 or seriesof such networks, such as the Internet or World Wide Web. In such anembodiment, the manufacturer 102 may have one or more computer servers702 on the network 700 for providing information on available makes andmodels of automobiles, completing direct sale or lease of suchautomobiles and completing such transactions in accordance with thesales incentive program described above. It is contemplated that one ormore retailers may further have similar servers 704 on the network 700for accomplishing the same, in addition to, or in lieu of, manufacturerservers 702.

The insurer 104 may operate an insurance affiliate server 708 forperforming the steps described above with respect to FIG. 5, Theaffiliate server 708 may further handle insurance transactions directlywith a buyer 100, such as processing claims, providing teens ofinsurance or handling buyer inquiries.

The buyer 100 may communicate with the manufacturer server 702, thedealer server 704 and/or the affiliate server 708 using a buyer terminal706 to complete a purchase of the automobile, receive the benefit of thesales incentive program and communicate above-described insurancetransactions.

Each of the servers 702, 704, 706 may be operative to communicate overthe network 700 in any manner known in the art and are preferablyoperative to handle high-bandwidth communications from multiple buyers100 simultaneously. The buyer terminal 706 may be any personalcommunications device operative to communicate over network 700, such asa personal computer with the ability to handle network communications,as well as, personal workstations, network terminals, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), cellular telephone equipped with wireless internetaccess or any other similar hard-wired or wireless communicationsequipment.

In addition to the above features, there are several additionalembodiments contemplated to be within the scope of the presentinvention. For example, it is contemplated that the provision of theinsurance policy under the sales incentive program may be discounted orfree to the buyer 100. However, If the buyer incurs substantial lossesrelating to the automobile within a particular period of time, it iscontemplated that an additional charge may be levied upon the buyer 100to continue the insurance coverage. It is further contemplated that theterm of the provided assurance may be at most one year from the date ofsale, lease or delivery of the vehicle. However, other policy terms maylikewise be used.

Although the invention has been described in detail in the foregoingembodiments, it is to be understood that the descriptions have beenprovided for purposes of illustration only and that other variationsboth in form and detail can be made thereupon by those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of fee invention, whichis defined solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is;
 1. A processor-implemented method for providing anincentive for the purchase or lease of an item, comprising: a. receivingan indication of a sale or lease transaction for an item, wherein thetransaction involves: i. selling an item to a buyer or leasing the itemto a lessee and providing by a third party an insurance policy for theitem; ii. verifying that the Model of the item involved in thetransaction qualifies as an eligible Model for the transactionincentive, wherein the transaction incentive involves providinginsurance to the buyer or lessee; iii. verifying that the transactionoccurs in a geographic region that has been designated as eligible forthe transaction incentive; iv. determining via a processor an insurancepremium associated with providing the insurance to the buyer or lessee;v. facilitating payment of the insurance premium by the third party toan insurance provider after the geographic region and item Model havebeen verified as eligible for the transaction incentive; and vi.providing the insurance to the buyer or lessee without consideration ofthe buyer's or lessee's personal characteristics.
 2. The method of claim1 wherein the insurance provided is a personal insurance policy.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the insurance provided is a group or fleetpolicy.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the insurance provided iscommercial.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is an automobile.6. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is a construction vehicle. 7.The method of claim 1 wherein the item is a commercial vehicle.
 8. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the term of the lease is short-term.
 9. Aprocessor-implemented method for providing an automobile transactionincentive, comprising: a. receiving an indication of an automobiletransaction, wherein the automobile transaction involves: selling anautomobile to a buyer or leasing the automobile to a lessee andproviding by a third party an automobile insurance policy for feeautomobile; b. verifying that the Model of the automobile involved inthe transaction qualifies as an eligible Model for the transactionincentive, wherein the transaction incentive involves providing theautomobile insurance policy to the buyer or lessee; c. verifying thatthe automobile transaction occurs in a geographic region that has beendesignated as eligible for the transaction incentive; d. determining viaa processor an insurance premium associated with providing theautomobile insurance policy to the buyer or lessee; e. facilitatingpayment of the insurance premium by the third party to an insuranceprovider after the geographic region and automobile mobile have beenverified as eligible for the transaction incentive; and f. providing theinsurance policy to the buyer or lessee without consideration of thebuyer's or lessee's personal characteristics.
 10. The processorimplemented method of claim 9 wherein the processor is a smart phone, alaptop or a tablet.
 11. The processor implemented method of claim 9wherein the transactions are conducted over a secure network.
 12. Theprocessor implemented method of claim 9 wherein the cost of theinsurance can be provided to the buyer or lessee in advance of the saleor lease of the automobile.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein theautomobile is new or used.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the thirdparty is an insurance carrier or an insurance agent.
 15. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the insurance is commercial insurance.
 16. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the insurance is group or fleet insurance.
 17. Themethod of claim 9 wherein the insurance is personal insurance.
 18. Aprocessor-implemented method for determining an insurance premiumassociated with providing insurance to a buyer or lessee of an item,comprising: a. receiving information over a network identifying a classof items for which insurance is to be provided to a buyer or lessee ofone of the class of items by a third party entity; b. receiving anindication over a network of a geographic region in which the buyer orlessee must reside to receive the insurance; and c. determining via aprocessor a premium to be charged for an insurance policy issued to thebuyer or lessee, the premium being based on the characteristics of theclass of items, the anticipated demographics of the buyer or lessee andthe geographic region of the transaction, without consideration ofindividual characteristics of the buyer or lessee and paid for by thethird party entity.
 19. The processor implemented method of claim 18wherein the processor network comprises a smart phone, a laptop or atablet.
 20. The processor implemented method of claim 18 wherein thetransactions are conducted over a secure network.
 21. The processorImplemented method of claim 18 wherein the cost of the insurance can beprovided to the buyer or lessee in advance of the sale or lease of theitem.
 22. The processor implemented method of claim 18 wherein the itemincludes a new or used automobile and a maintenance service associatedwith the automobile.
 23. The processor-implemented method of claim 18wherein the item may be a maritime craft, autonomous vehicle,construction apparatus, or a commercial vehicle.
 24. Aprocessor-implemented method for facilitating an automobile transactionover a secure network, comprising: a. receiving a customer's transactioninformation associated with an automobile transaction, i. wherein thecustomer's transaction information includes driver's licenseinformation, and ii. wherein the automobile transaction involves eitherthe sale or lease of an automobile; b. determining that the customerresides in a geographic region which is approved for a transactionincentive for a particular automobile without determining whether thecustomer is insurable; c. transmitting via a processor the customer'stransaction information to a third party for providing insurance to saidcustomer without assessing the customer's insurability characteristics;d. receiving from said third party, via a processor, insurance policyinformation for the customer associated with the underlying automobiletransaction, wherein the insurance policy has a premium paid by thethird party and determined independent of the customer's insurabilitycharacteristics; and e. providing the insurance policy information tothe customer in connection with said automobile transaction.
 25. Themethod of claim 24 wherein the processor is connected to a network. 26.The method of claim 24 wherein the processor is contained in a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
 27. The method of claim 24 wherein the lease isshort-term.
 28. The method of claim 24 wherein the cost of the insurancepolicy is made known to the buyer or lessee prior to completion of thetransaction.
 29. The method of claim 24 wherein the network is a securevirtual private network.
 30. A processor-implemented method forfacilitating an automobile transaction by providing an insurance policyto a buyer or lessee of said automobile over a secure network,comprising: a. receiving a customer's transaction information associatedwith an automobile transaction, i. wherein the customer's transactioninformation includes driver's license information and paymentinformation, ii. wherein the automobile transaction is either the saleor lease of an automobile, and iii. wherein said payment information isfor payment for the sale or lease of the automobile and not for paymentof an insurance policy for said automobile; b. determining that thecustomer resides in a geographic region which is approved for atransaction incentive involving said automobile; c. transmitting via aprocessor the customer's transaction information to a third party forproviding insurance to said customer without assessing the individualdriving record of said customer other than said geographic region inwhich said customer resides; d. receiving from said third party, via aprocessor, insurance policy information for the customer associated withthe underlying automobile transaction, i. wherein the insurance policyhas a premium paid by the third party and determined independent of thecustomer's insurability characteristics; and e. providing the insurancepolicy information to the customer in connection with said automobiletransaction.
 31. The processor-implemented method of claim 30 whereinthe term of the insurance policy is equal to the term of the lease orthe term of a loan associated with the sale of the automobile.
 32. Theprocessor-implemented method of claim 30 wherein the insurance policy isprovided without consideration of the geographic area where the customerresides.
 33. The processor-implemented method of claim 30 wherein theinsurance policy information can be provided to the customer prior toentering the transaction.
 34. The processor-implemented method of claim30 wherein the transactions are accomplished using smartphones, laptopsand/or tablets